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 ‘Birth’ poses troubling questions A Review By Monique Bos “Birth” is the story of a widow, Anna (Nicole Kidman), who is newly engaged when a 10-year-old boy (Cameron Bright) shows up at her home claiming to be her late husband Sean, who’s been dead for a decade. Of course, Anna, her fiancé Joseph (Danny Huston) and the rest of her family and friends are skeptical. Initially Sean behaves more like a stalker than a loving husband, speaking with little inflection and displaying quiet determination uncharacteristic of most children. Even when Anna asks him to leave because he’s hurting her, he refuses -- which raises the question of whether, if he really is her husband reincarnated, he loves her or is simply driven by the need to possess her. As the situation escalates, Sean displays intimate knowledge of Anna’s marriage and life. No one can explain how he knows what he knows, but they remain unconvinced that he is who he claims. Slowly, however, Anna comes to believe that he is indeed her late husband. The movie explores this acceptance in ways that probe the disturbing ramifications without being didactic: Can a grown woman have a relationship with a child, even if he was her husband in a past life? How does she address the legal and moral issues? This tension is elegantly, if controversially, highlighted in the scene in which Sean gets into a bathtub with Anna. When she asks him what he’s staring at, he says, with complete gravity, “I’m looking at my wife.” The scene is unsettling, both because of its understated eroticism and because it illuminates the nature of their relationship. Throughout the film, director Jonathan Glazer uses silence as effectively as he does dialogue. Visual imagery provides rich contrasts, highlighting the disparity between the luxury apartment where Anna lives with her mother (Lauren Bacall) and the run-down tenement Sean’s family inhabits, as well as the difference between Joseph’s patient adoration and Sean’s unflinching, cold gaze. Music also forms a crucial part of the effect, and Alexandre Desplat’s score skillfully manipulates the moods in each scene. Fittingly, a private concert provides the backdrop for the climax, in which Joseph finally confronts Sean and Anna must choose between them. The film leaves open-ended the question of whether Sean is really the reincarnation of Anna’s husband or a severely deluded child. Anna’s friend Clara (Anne Heche) plays a pivotal role in the plot twist, in which secrets are revealed and partial explanations offered, but viewers ultimately are left to draw their own conclusions. “Birth” is cinematically stunning and exquisitely acted. It’s also thought-provoking, profoundly unsettling and very, very tragic. |
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